dvd

Infopackets Reader William G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I've been enjoying your recent discussions on Audio CDs and MP3s in the newsletter. Quick question: is there any way I can 'rip' an MP3 CD? I have many different programs but I am unable to find a ... way to recover or 'rip' MP3s back into my computer. Can you suggest anything that I can do? " My response: Just for clarification, the term 'rip' -- although loosely coined -- means to extract data from a CD or DVD that would otherwise be uncopyable without using a specialized ripping software. For example: you cannot insert an audio CD ... (view more)

Amazing Cd ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Aimee P. writes: " Dear Dennis, I would like to transfer some photos from my work laptop to my personal laptop. What is the easiest way to do this? Is there some cord I can buy that can connect the two laptops which will enable me ... to transfer the photos quickly? The work laptop is a Toshiba Satellite Pro Pentium 4 on Windows XP. My personal laptop is an old Compaq on Windows 2000. Any advice is appreciated! " My response: There are a number of ways you can transfer your photos [or any other file type, for that matter] from one laptop to another. My answer is in no ... (view more)

Synopsis: Are you a self-proclaimed film fanatic? Do you own so many movies that it sometimes takes 30 minutes just to find 'the right' selection? In that case, you need Movie Collector! Movie Collector is an organized, automated movie database ... system that is designed to help you catalog your collection of DVDs, DivX files, VHS tapes, and more! Adding movies to the database is quick and easy -- with virtually no typing necessary! Just enter in the movie title and Movie Collector will automatically download all information from various sources on the Internet (like IMDb and DVD Empire), ... (view more)

What's the easiest, most cost-effective way to repair a scratched CD or DVD? That was the question Infopackets Reader Manny K. asked earlier this week. In Part 1 of our discussion, I provided instructions on how to properly clean a CD or DVD using a ... cotton swab; at the end of the article, I also asked Infopackets Readers to send me their best home-based remedies for repairing a scratched disc. In Part 2 , I provided a brief explanation of the comments I received, and then proceeded to quote the findings of our Readers. Part 3 is the final stage of our discussion and will continue where we ... (view more)

Since asking Infopackets Readers for their opinion on the best solution for Removing Scratches from CD or DVD compact disc, I have received a land-slide of great suggestions and insight. So far, the consensus has been that many users have ... successfully reported using ordinary house-hold cleaners, such as wood polishers (Pledge), Brasso (a metal polisher), and toothpaste (an abrasive tooth polisher) for small surface scratches. For deep scratches, by far the best recommendation I've received is to take the disc to a local DVD video or CD music rental store and have them repair it. These stores ... (view more)

Synopsis: Confused about burning music CDs? Worry no more! Designed to be super-easy-to-use, Acoustica MP3 CD / DVD Burner is an intuitive music burning program jam packed full of user-friendly features! Not only will Acoustica MP3 Burner burn your ... music in the order you want it, but it will let you edit each song to get rid of silence, extra long applauses or even fade in and out incomplete songs! And because Acoustica MP3 Burner can also boost, equalize, or normalize each song individually, you won't have to constantly adjust the volume dial on your stereo! With Acoustica MP3 CD Burner, you ... (view more)

After sending out three newsletters last week that dealt with watching downloading movies on a DVD player / entertainment system, I received two (somewhat related) questions from Infopackets Readers over the weekend. The first question comes from ... Reader Manny K., who writes: " Dear Dennis, Please forgive me if my question has already been answered in your newsletter; however, I'm a tad curious if you happen to know whether or not those do-it-yourself DVD/CD scratch repair schemes actually work? I'm not talking the those repair kits you buy at the electronic stores -- I'm talking about ... (view more)

Recall -- Following with our recent theme on " backup software ", I announced last week that I be compiling an in-depth review on a disk imaging software. In a subsequent newsletter, I asked Infopackets Readers to send me their opinions (good or ... bad) on their favorite imaging program. Responses have been strong, with about 60 opinions to date. Based on those opinions, the consensus is that Acronis True Image is ranked as the favorite recommendation, providing best overall feature set and the least amount of bugs and incompatibilities. One other strong point brought to my attention ... (view more)

Recall - - Last week I talked about a utility called ISOBuster, which is able to retrieve data from stubborn DVD and CDs. Unfortunately I wasn't 100% correct when I reported that ISOBuster is freeware. To better explain ISOBuster's 'freeware' ... functionality, the author of ISOBuster (Peter Van Hove) emailed me the following message: " Dear Dennis, I saw in today's newsletter that you mentioned ISOBuster which is GREAT! And you're right, ISOBuster is ideal for data recovery from CD and DVD -- especially for getting data back from CDs created with DirectCD, Drag 2 Disc, InCD, DLA and other ... (view more)